The present invention relates generally to closure devices for flexible bags such as plastic or paper bags used to package potato chips and the like. More particularly, this invention relates to a novel clip which provides improved storage and handling of such flexible bags.
By way of further background, for quite a while now snack foods such as chips, pretzels, etc. have been packaged and sold in plastic or paper bags. Many times, these bags are sufficiently large to contain more product than necessary for a single serving or simultaneous set of servings. Consequently, it has been necessary to re-close the bags once opened, and to store the partially-emptied bag until further use. Quite naturally, therefore, there has been a great interest in providing means by which the bags can be reclosed until later use.
The most common of these prior means known to applicants is a butterfly-type clip having two members which are pivotally connected and biased, as by a spring, toward one another. The commercial butterfly clips known to applicants have clipping members which are relatively short in comparison to the width of bags containing potato chips or other snacks. In use, the flexible bag to be closed is folded over at least once, and the butterfly clip is used to hold the fold in place to keep the bag closed. Often, for storage convenience, the bag is folded over several times to reduce its effective size prior to application of the clip.
Another type of clip is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,296,529 to Brown. The Brown patent shows a bag clip in which two elongate members are pivotally or hingedly connected at one end, and can be used to span the girth of the bag and can be clamped together to close the bag. Like the butterfly clip, in using this type of clip the bag could be folded over to reduce its overall size for storage, but this nevertheless leaves the stored bag more bulky than it need be. Additionally, this situation causes inconveniences in handling and reopening the bag, and in having to reach far down into the bag to retrieve more chips when eating directly out of the bag, as is often done. Reaching far down into the bag can be a particularly troublesome problem because the insides of snack bags are often somewhat oily from the product they contain. This can dirty the arm of the consumer or perhaps more damagingly dirty a shirt sleeve covering the arm. This type of problem is equally encountered in the butterfly-type clips discussed above.
What is therefore needed is a device and method for eliminating these storage and handling problems. Such a device should preferably be inexpensive to manufacture, and simple to use, and yet provide these desirable features. The applicants' invention addresses these needs.